1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laundry apparatus having a laundry drying function.
2. Description of Related Art
There are conventionally known laundry apparatuses which are capable of drying laundry contained in a drum thereof rotatable about a rotation axis (see, for example, JP-A1-2004-105250 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1)). Such laundry apparatuses have been introduced in coin (or bill)-operated laundry shops, cleaning facilities, general households and the like.
A drum-type laundry cleaning/drying machine disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a tub (outer tub) disposed in a housing thereof and having an opening formed in a front face thereof, and a drum disposed within the tub. The drum has an opening formed in a front face thereof in association with the opening of the tub. Laundry is loaded into the drum through the openings of the tub and the drum. The laundry contained in the drum is dried by applying drying air or hot air to the laundry while being agitated by rotation of the drum.
An air circulation duct through which the drying air flows extend as surrounding the tub, and its one end is connected to the opening of the tub in communication with the tub. The drying air supplied from the air circulation duct flows downward from the one end of the air circulation duct to be supplied to the laundry in the drum sequentially through the opening of the tub and the opening of the drum.
In the drum-type laundry cleaning/drying machine disclosed in Patent Document 1, the drying air supplied from the air circulation duct partly fails to reach the opening of the drum, and flows into a gap defined between the tub and the drum. Therefore, not all the drying air is supplied to the laundry in the drum. This may prevent improvement in laundry drying efficiency.